Baby Love
by xUntoldSecrets
Summary: A story with a twist about Carla and her ordeal with Frank. Contains Peter, Maria, and Leanne too.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, this is my first fic and my first time posting on . I'd really appreciate you letting me know what you think of this, like I say it's my first one so be gentle please lol. Not really sure what else to write apart from, I hope you enjoy it.**

Part One.

Battered. Bruised. Terrified.

They were just three of the many words that could have been used to describe the woman laid against expensive laminate flooring. The floor was cold and unforgiving against her skin, she wanted to move but was so scared that if she did he would do something else, she stayed where she was. Her knees were pulled impossibly close against her chest, her position against the floor was foetal like, almost as though she was trying to curl herself up so tightly and become so small that she would disappear altogether into another world where this wasn't her reality. Raven locks fell over her face, a face that was wet with silent tears that she had cried tears that were leaving trails down her cheeks as they fell. As he moved closer, she shuffled away a little, as much as she could in the position that she was in and it seemed to work. He stopped. She swallowed hard and tried to stop herself from violently shaking, though found it impossible.

"you made me do it..."

Those words made her head spin, how could he say that? Was it her fault? Maybe it was. It wasn't like she hadn't done anything before it had happened, quite the opposite in fact, well, at least confessed to as much. Maybe that was her punishment for what she had done. The questions, the maybe's and the what if's seemed never-ending in her mind, there were so many things going around in her head she thought it was going to explode, she could feel and hear her heartbeat ringing in her ears and just as she was about to spiral off into her mind, a noise pulled her back into the room. A door slam. Scrambling up onto her knees as quick as was possible, she reached the door and put both the lock and the chain on as to prevent him getting back into the house that night.

Her husband. She was locking her own husband out of the house while she tried to get herself together enough to decide what she should do after his actions. The attack. Rape. The thought of that word alone made her feel nauseous and she had to take a deep breath to prevent herself from being sick then and there. Shuffling back a little she moved so that her back was against the wall which was the only thing at that moment in time keeping her upright as she reached out for her bag. Carla Connor. Ruined? She shook her head a little and concentrated one something else to prevent her thoughts from taking over. The brunette pulled the bag closer and lifted her phone out of it with one hand, while pulling her skirt over her legs as far as it would go without causing the material to rip, with the other. Carla scrolled down in her phone for someone to call, and as much as she hated asking people for help and allowing them to think that she couldn't cope, in the situation it was the last thing that she was thinking about.

Michelle. She was the one person that had been by her side throughout the majority of things that had happened in her life, though they weren't officially family anymore, it didn't change the way they thought or acted around each other. As she scrolled down to her sister-in-law's name, something that was made increasingly hard due to how much she was shaking, Carla let out a sob when she remembered she was on holiday. It was almost as though the thoughts had taken a moment to process in her mind, waited until she had hoped that the person she wanted to help her just might be able to, only for them to be dashed once again.

There was only one more person and Carla wasn't sure if her name came up on their phone whether they would even answer it or not. She had no choice but to try. After pressing the call button on her phone, Carla raised it to her ear as it rang and hoped that the person at the other end would answer her, and just as she was about to hang up she heard a familiar voice, albeit from someone who she'd not always got on with.

"Hello?"  
>"M...Maria.. It's me... C...Carla..." she stammered, her voice shaky to say the least.<br>"Oh, what do you want? Why are you calling me at this time anyway, it's half eleven, you could have woke Liam."  
>"Could you come round.. Please?"<br>Maria frowned, she had thought about questioning her again but the tone in Carla's voice told her that something wasn't right and she knew her well enough to know that unless she really needed to she wouldn't have called her. "I'll be right over." and with that she hung up the phone before going in to let her brother know that he needed to wait up for her to get back in case her young son woke up.

Carla placed her phone on the floor beside her when Maria hung up and was grateful that she had agreed to come and help her although she didn't know what it was that was wrong. As she waited Carla wrapped both arms around her knees and sat quietly in the large house, a house that she wanted or even needed to get out of as soon as she could. Each voice, car horn, and noise made her heart race and her breath come in short, sharp gasps. What if he was coming back? What if he came back and found out that she'd called someone? Carla moved her hand to the back of her neck and usually she would have tried to ration with herself that she had locked the door and that he couldn't get in, but her mind was all over the place and it just wasn't something she was capable of doing to help herself. She wasn't sure she could do anything to help herself after this.

"Mama?"

Carla's head lifted sharply as she heard the whisper, raising her head to find him standing in his Lightening McQueen pyjama's, his blonde curls an untidy mess and his favourite Teddy in his right hand. As the little boy made his way closer his feet made a padding sound against the floor and as he reached Carla he spoke again.

"Monsters..."

Carla sighed, he was going through a phase of being convinced there were monsters in his room and was having difficulty spending the whole night in there as a result, and where Carla could reassure him that there was no such thing in his room, the rest of the house she knew telling him such a thing would be a lie. "No baby..." she whispered, moving him into her lap as she cradled him, hoping that he would go back over before Maria arrived. It wasn't long before he did just that, running her hand over his back gently in a soothing manner seemed to have done the trick and once she was sure that he was sound enough she could move him without him waking, Carla stood on legs that felt like jelly and moved over to lay him on the sofa, covering him with a blanket as she went to find his dummy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for those comments; I really appreciate you taking the time to send them. Really glad you enjoyed the first part of this story, in case it wasn't clear in the first chapter Carla is married to Frank. Hope you enjoy this one.**

Part Two.

Maria had only taken around 15 minutes to get to Carla's in the car and as she pulled up on the front she couldn't help but wonder what was the matter. The light was on downstairs and it didn't seem as though anything was different to what it usually would have been. Why would Carla have called her? She knew she couldn't stand the man she was married to and if he was there Maria had no intention of staying at the house, regardless of what Carla wanted. Frank Foster. He had tried to force himself on her just over two years ago and she had warned Carla off. However, Carla had married him anyway and since then Maria hadn't had much to do with either of them. As she made her way through the gates at the front of the house she couldn't help but scoff at how over the top it was, there was only the three of them and she was sure the majority of people on the Street could have stayed in it comfortably. On reaching the door she raised her hand and pressed the bell while she waited for Carla to answer, she wrapped her coat around her more tightly to try and block out the chill of the cold wind.

As the sound of the bell rang throughout the house, Carla jumped and dropped the glass that she'd had hold of which caused quiet cries to come from the sofa. Carla stepped a little closer to the door and called out "Who is it?" While she waited for the answer she shushed her son quietly but it seemed the more to try and get him to be quiet and go back over to sleep, the more distressed he became and the louder his cries got. Carla was at a loss as for what to do when she heard Maria's voice answer her from the other side of the door and after letting a quiet sigh of relief escape her lips she opened it.

When Carla opened the door Maria gasped in shock at her appearance, her clothes were ripped, she had been crying a lot and in a heartbeat she knew what had happened. Maria stepped into the house and closed the door behind her being sure to put the lock back on. "He did this, didn't he?" she whispered, though didn't wait for an answer before she pulled Carla gently into a cuddle, she knew the answer to the question before she'd even asked it.

Carla welcomed the cuddle, at first the contact shocked her and she thought about pushing her away but she soon changed her mind. She needed someone there and without saying anything, Maria had let her know that she was going to be. Carla left a pause before she answered what Maria had said; she nodded and then spoke in a voice that was so quiet she doubted whether the words had even left her lips. When Maria squeezed her closer however, she knew they had. "He raped me…"

Maria loosened her grip on Carla and stood back a little as she spoke, taking out her phone. "You know what we have to do, don't you?"

Carla shook her head, "Maria there's no point, I didn't believe you when you told me…"

"Do you want him to do this to another woman? You know he will Carla, once you go he'll do it to someone else."

Carla didn't answer as Maria dialled the number on her phone and then stepped aside to speak to the person who answered. Carla jumped and almost stumbled sideways when she felt arms wrapped around her leg, her heart racing. Turning to the side she found her son, Harvey, stood by her side with both arms wrapped around her right leg and she sighed. She hated how what he had done had made her so edgy, it was almost as though she was terrified of her own son coming anywhere near her, but of course she wasn't, it was the initial contact that made her react badly. The one person in the whole world that she wanted with her at that moment in time was Harvey. Swallowing hard, she tried to block out what Maria was saying to the person down the other end of the phone and lifted Harvey up, carrying him on her hip, trying to ignore the pains and aches that seemed to be all over. She walked slowly into the kitchen with him and picked up his dummy, giving him it just before he moved his head to rest it against her shoulder. His whimpers broke her heart and she knew that he knew something was wrong. Carla turned around quickly as Maria walked into the kitchen.

"They're on their way."

"They can't come here... What if he comes back…?"

"Carla, I don't think he'll come back tonight."

"You don't know that."

"No I don't, but I know the doors locked and the police are on their way."

Carla paused, she knew Maria was right. "He knows…"

Maria frowned unsure as to what Carla meant by her comment. "Who knows? What do they know?"

"Harvey… he knows something's wrong…"

"What makes you say that?"

"He keeps crying and whimpering, he knows something's happened."

"He'll just be tired…" Maria tried to reassure her, though she knew as well as Carla did that children picked up on more than they liked to think. "Listen, why don't you go sit down with him while we wait and I'll make him something to drink."

Carla managed a nod at Maria's offer "he likes warm milk…" were her last words before she left the kitchen and walked through into the living area of the house, sitting down on the sofa with Harvey on her lap as she waited for the door to go once more.

As they sat there, Carla ran her hand over his hair gently, the constant feeling of sickness never leaving her, at that moment in time she was unsure whether it ever truly would. Harvey moved a little, frowning and reached over for his favourite teddy before settling back in his mother's lap, taking his dummy from his mouth to speak.

"Dimples cuddle too?"

Carla nodded at what he had said, forcing the faintest of smiles "yeah…"

"You cry mama?"

Carla shook her head at his question "no baby I'm just tired."

Harvey frowned and placed his hand on Carla's cheek, nodding. "Wet. You cry." His face fell as realisation hit him, it was almost as though Carla had witnessed him process the thought and put two and two together, and he frowned upon doing so. "Why you cry?"

"Sad film…" Carla lied and he seemed to accept it before returning to lying against her, she sighed and held her arms around him just a fraction tighter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for the comments on the second chapter of this, I forgot about posting until I got an e-mail today. So, I hope you all continue to enjoy this. Comments are appreciated.**

Part Three.

Carla wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there with Harvey, but she had seemed to be in a trance like state when Maria entered the room and snapped her out of it. She gave Harvey a bottle of warm milk she'd done when the door went once again. Carla jumped and turned quickly as Maria walked over and down the hall to answer it, when she came back there were two police officers following her and Carla's stomach was in knots at the prospect of what would happen next, she didn't want to speak about what had gone on but at the same time she knew the only way she was going to get any sort of justice for herself would be by doing just that. It wasn't fair. Any of it. One of the police officers made their around the couch while they spoke.

"Carla?"

She nodded.

"Who's this?" she asked quietly, gesturing to Harvey.

"My son, Harvey…"

"While we do this, he needs to be somewhere else, is there anywhere he can go?"

Carla shook her head.

"What about his room? PC George can go with him."

Carla paused for a moment, considering what she said before she gave a small nod and spoke to Harvey. "Listen baby, this lady wants you to show her all your toys…" she told him, gesturing to the other office who had now taken a few steps closer to them. Harvey shook his head. "No stay here." Carla hesitated, if he didn't want to go she didn't intend upsetting him in order for him to do so. "You can show her your big car and she might even read you a story…" Harvey nodded and clambered down off Carla's lap, taking the hand of the blonde haired officer as he walked off with her in the direction of his room.

"Is it alright if I sit down?" were the words that next came from the remaining officer.

Carla nodded.

"I'm PC Linda Healey, I'm a nightingale trained officer and that means I deal with reports of sexual assault and rape."

Carla flinched slightly just at the word she used, though she was still refusing to acknowledge it completely.

"When did it happen?"

Carla frowned "what time?" she shook her head a little, indicating she didn't know.

"Was it this evening?"

She nodded, but before she could say anything Maria answered for her and she was thankful. "She called me straight after it was about half eleven."

"Have you showered or changed clothes?" came the next question, directed at Carla who wanted to snap at her, did she think she usually walked around in tops that were ripped open. She settled for shaking her head, and then frowned. Where was her notepad? Surely she should be writing this down? Her most recent thought was what prompted her next comment. "She's not even taking notes…"

"CID are on their way, I'm just here to take a brief account from you so we can try to preserve as much evidence as possible." She informed.

"We've tried not to touch anything." Maria told the officer with Carla becoming quieter as the minutes passed.

The officer nodded "good" she turned back to Carla before continuing. "I know it must feel really uncomfortable sitting in the same clothes but you've done the right thing."

Carla nodded in agreement at the officer's comment about how uncomfortable it must have felt, it did and she wanted to get out of them as soon as possible.

"The person that attacked you…"

Carla felt sick.

"His name's Frank Foster…" Maria answered for her; again, she was thankful for it.

"Let Carla tell me in her own words…" Carla stayed silent and this prompted the officer to speak again. "Can you tell me about Frank Carla? What was his relationship with you?"

Carla sighed; she couldn't get out of answering this however much she wanted to. "He's my business partner…" she paused, the next part being harder to stomach than the first. "and my husband."

"Has he ever shown any signs of violence before?"

"Not to Carla he hasn't…" were the words that came from Maria, causing Carla to swallow hard. If only she'd believed her and taken the warning that she'd been given.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the comments they really are appreciated, I also forgot to mention in my last post a thanks to the people who had favourite this story so yeah, thank you. :D hope you all enjoy this next bit.**

Part Four.

The officer continued to talk but Carla couldn't process it, it was like she could hear the sounds and the words that were coming out of her mouth but couldn't understand them or what they meant. The feeling she had only seemed to get stronger and she stood up, the clothes she was wearing not helping how she felt. On getting up she walked around the couch as she spoke. "I really can't stand sitting in these clothes for much longer. I need to get changed, I'm sorry." When Carla had got up from the couch the officer had done the same and quickly answered her to prevent her from doing what she had spoken about. "It won't be for much longer, I promise. You can take some things with you and after you've visited the doctor you can get a shower and get changed."

On hearing this Maria stood and offered to pack some things for Carla, she nodded but as Maria turned to go upstairs the door went once more which caused Carla to jump and her heart race. As the police officer made her way to the door Carla turned to Maria, utterly panic stricken. "What if he's come back…?" Maria shook her head in response but couldn't bring herself to say anything to Carla; she couldn't convince herself that she was sure it wouldn't be Frank at the door, so knew Carla would pick up on the uncertainty straight away.

Both of them sighed a sigh of relief when it was more police officers that walked through the door, someone who was going to be leading the case and forensics was who they were, as Carla was soon informed. Maria placed her hand on Carla's arm gently before she spoke again. "You're doing great, is there anything I can get you before I go up to pack some stuff?"

Carla nodded. "A bottle of Vodka."

She missed the subtle shake of a head from the police officer to Maria upon hearing her request. "How about more coffee?"

"Can you try to find me some tablets my head's banging."

Maria nodded and walked through into the kitchen while Carla was lead back over to sit down on the couch as the police officer who had just walked through the front door had more questions for her to answer. More questions she didn't want to answer and some that she probably already had.

When the police officer seemed satisfied that Carla had answered enough questions for the time being she got up before going through to speak to the people who she guessed would be the ones searching for traces of evidence. The thought made her shudder and she got up, walking through into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. Carla took a small sip and turned around as the officer that she had been speaking to first spoke to her.

"I've just called and we're ready to take you to the doctor now Carla… We just need to know what you're going to do about Harvey."

Carla frowned "What do you mean?"

"Is there no one that could take him for the night?"

Carla shook her head. "No, if he can't come with me I'm not going."

Maria frowned as she walked into the kitchen and heard the last part of Carla's sentence. She placed the bag she had packed some of both Carla's and Harvey's things into onto the floor as she spoke. "What's wrong?"

"They want me to dump Harvey off somewhere and I'm not doing it." She snapped a little more than intended and sighed. "If he doesn't come with me I'm not going with them, I'm not just leaving him at some random person's house."

"Kirk's at mine, we could drop him off there, he's got to be there in case Liam wakes up anyway…"

Carla hesitated for a second before nodding.

"You can stay there tonight too, you shouldn't be on your own and I think you're going to have to keep out of here at least for tonight."

The officer nodded, "yeah you will, I don't think the forensics can start until a little later on so it will probably be tomorrow when they're finished."

Carla just nodded again, it was robotic now, she was utterly drained and she knew the night was far from over. This was confirmed when the second police officer came down the stairs with Harvey to whom she'd have to explain would be going to Maria's flat, somewhere he'd never been, and would be staying there for the night.

Carla picked Harvey up and placed him on the kitchen counter, standing with a hand either side of him to make sure he didn't go anywhere. "Listen, you are going on a little adventure tonight…" he frowned in confusion. "You're going to stay with Kirk and Liam while I go out for a little while." Carla stopped a sigh just in time; while I go out, it made it sound like she was going out to the pub or to a friends, but no, she was going to the police station to report her husband for rape. The contrast was huge. Carla was distracted from her thoughts when Harvey spoke. "You come back?" Carla nodded. "Yeah, but while I'm not there you can take some of your toys to show Kirk, can't you and I'm sure Dimples would like to go on the adventure with you too." As Harvey held his arms up, Carla picked him up and held him on her hip, nodding at what he next asked. "We go now?"

Maria picked up the bag for Carla and followed her out of the kitchen and down the hall, Carla had put a coat on over Harvey's pyjama's and wrapped a blanket loosely around him as he carried his beloved teddy. As the made their way down the hall behind the three police officers, the door opened and Frank walked back in, causing Carla to moved back so quickly she almost tripped over herself, the only thing that kept her upright was Maria who used her own arms to hold her. Carla wanted to scream at him and quite literally rip his head off for what he had done; the only thing that stopped her was the toddler in her arms. As the police went through the speech of arresting him, she could hear him denying that anything had happened and it made her sick.

Frank was furious, how dare she call the police and taint his name, she was the one that was in the wrong and she knew it. She had betrayed him once and now she was doing it all over again. He silently vowed to make her pay for what she'd done as his hands were placed in handcuffs behind his back. He wanted to hurt her and short of speech he didn't have anything in which he could do so, so, with this thought he spoke up with a request he knew would get to her. However, when he had spoken he hadn't expected what Carla said in response, not in front of a room full of people.

"I want to speak to Harvey."

"He's nothing to do with you, you're going nowhere near him."

"I'm his father."

"No, you're not."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all so much once again for the lovely comments you wrote about the last chapter. I'm glad you like the way this has been set out by including some of what really happened in the show, Rionadh, I thought it might come across like I was being lazy lol, so I'm glad it doesn't. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. :-)**

Part Five.

Maria almost fell over on hearing Carla, turning to her as Frank was led away, she couldn't help but wonder whether Carla had just said what she had due to the situation. However, the one thing that was making her doubt it was her tone, she hadn't stuttered or even paused to answer, there wasn't even a hint of doubt in her voice as she said it either. Maria wanted to ask her if it was true but knew it wasn't the time or the place to do so.

On getting into the police car, Carla sat beside Harvey and Maria got in beside her. After putting seatbelts on Carla made sure that Harvey had the blanket draped over him before she rested her arm over him gently. He moved his hands out from under the blanket to place over hers and they had only been driving for a moment when he touched her wrist which caused Carla to flinch. Harvey frowned and leaned down to kiss where her skin was bruised.

"Kissed better."

Carla had to fight back tears on hearing him, she had done it many times to him and now he was copying her. She wished it was as simple as it was in his mind. Carla nodded. "Yeah, all better now." He smiled and so did she, running her hand over his hair gently as she passed him his dummy as he settled, with one arm over her own and the other around his teddy, she knew it wouldn't be long until he was asleep again and she was right. By the time they had reached Maria's Harvey had nodded off in the back of the car.

The police officer turned around in her seat as she spoke. "I'll wait here while you drop him off."

Carla nodded, "I'll take him up."

"Carla are you sure, I'll get Kirk to come down and get him if you want?" Maria offered.

"No, I'll take him."

Maria knew better than to argue with her and got out of the car to allow Carla to do the same. Carla walked around the other side of the Carla and leaned in to pick Harvey up carefully so that she didn't wake him up and once she had hold of him she went up into Maria's flat with her, into the spare room where she put him into bed. While Carla tucked him in Maria explained to Kirk what was going on, though she didn't say why Carla would be staying there. Swerving the questions was difficult, it was plain to anyone that something had happened just from the way the pair of them were acting and Carla's appearance was a far cry from her usually very glamorous self. However, Maria knew Carla well enough to know that she wouldn't appreciate her telling anyone, so made sure Kirk knew not to question why, but just to take care of both toddlers until they arrived back.

As Carla made her way down the stairs and out of the front door of Maria's flat, she cursed her timing and wondered what else was going to go wrong for her that night. Her whole life had been turned upside down, the place that she had only hours ago thought was her home now was just somewhere that held horrific memories, she had to spend the night in the police station, her son was at a stranger's house and now, walking towards her was Peter Barlow. If there was one person that she hadn't wanted to bump into that night it was him, for him to find her in the state she was. She felt ashamed, embarrassed, awkward and heartbroken all at the same time. She felt like a victim and that was a new one on her, she hated it. Peter was the man that she loved, the man that she had wished she had married and the man who was out of reach. He was married and he had a son, she couldn't compete with that which was why she had married Frank, of course now she regretted that day wholeheartedly, but at the time she had thought that there would never be a chance with her and Peter and rather than be on her own had decided to settle. She had admitted her feeling's to Peter on more than one occasion before the wedding, four times to be precise and each time he had told her that the feeling's he had for her weren't the same and that he loved Leanne.

As Peter was making his way up the street he was smoking a cigarette and thinking about day-to-day tasks that he needed to do either that night or the following day. He had just been to visit his dad, to drop Simon some things off as he was spending the night there and it had taken him a moment before it had registered in his brain that Carla was standing in front of him and immediately he knew something was wrong. His thoughts were confirmed when she picked her pace up and walked in the direction of the police car. _A police car?_ He frowned, at first he thought that she might have been in trouble, but if that was the case they wouldn't have stopped off at her friend's house and let her walk around the Street. As it dawned on him it must be something more serious he couldn't help but wish that it was for what he had first thought, that Carla had been arrested for running her mouth one too many times to the police. He almost smiled at the thought, he could imagine it now. Shaking his head and dropping the cigarette onto the floor he made his way over to her but was blocked by Maria who shook her head. Peter frowned as Maria spoke.

"Don't Peter…"

"Why, I just want to speak to her and check she's alright?"

"She's not and she's not up for talking. Maybe another day."

"Why is she in a police car, what's happened?" his sentences were coming out quicker now and Maria knew he was worried. She wanted to tell him what was wrong, but she knew it wasn't her place. It was up to Carla who found out what had happened, if anyone else did.

"I don't think-" she was cut off mid-sentence as the woman who had been driving the other car made her way over. "Can you come now please Ms Connor, we need to take Carla to visit the doctor as soon as possible…"

Maria nodded and then turned to Peter, who spoke before she got the chance. "The doctor? He's never battered her?"

"Peter I've really got to go…" was all Maria said, not confirming or denying what he had asked, Peter was about to ask her another question when he caught part of a sentence that had been said by the police officer who had just spoken to someone on the other end of a phone. _Forensics_. He felt sick. "He's never…" he couldn't finish the sentence, but what he had said accompanied with the shake of his head was enough for Maria to understand what he meant. The tiniest of nods was all that she gave before turning her back on him and going back to the car and as it drove away Peter had to use every little bit of strength inside him not to break down then and there.

He loved her more than life. She was his life, she just didn't know it. He knew deep down that refusing to admit how he felt was the main reason Carla had married Frank and it was slowly tearing him apart on the inside. As he turned around and entered his own flat he knew what he had just found out couldn't just be masked over and while he would have to admit to his wife what had happened, once again he knew he could only tell her half a story.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. :-)**

Part Six.

The next few hours passed in a blur for Carla, she was taken to a doctor and examined, how they managed to do that without her clawing and screaming at them she didn't know. She wanted to shout at them when they spoke; some of the questions seemed so pointless. Instead though, she settled for nodding when she thought she should and went along with what they had asked. She could remember certain things that stuck in her mind, the worst things out of the experience stayed with her and they were playing over and over again in her mind against her will. It was slowly torturing her and she couldn't do a thing about it, it was hardly like she could run away from herself. Not being able to do anything to stop something as it happened seemed to be a running trend for that night.

As Carla left the room she had been thankful to find that Maria had been waiting for her, she was also thankful that she had been able to get a shower and change into some clothes that weren't the ones she had been wearing when it had happened. That alone had slowly been sending her insane. That night, Carla also went through the process of being questioned about what had happened and what had lead up to Frank attacking her, something which she had insisted on doing that same night rather than leaving it until the next morning. While she was in the room answering the questions that were being fired at her she wondered whether they blamed her for what had happened, she was doubting herself and his words were ringing in her head throughout the interview, which needless to say, wasn't helping matters.

Maria had been by Carla's side throughout the night and she was worried at how white she was now, she was sure her appearance had got worse since she had turned up at the house. She worried about what was going through her mind, Carla was such a strong woman and her lack of comment or answer to things wasn't something that Maria was used to. In a way she understood why Carla would have wanted to get the police questioning over and done with, but she also thought that Carla might have dealt with it better if she'd had some rest and gone back the next morning. However, with how insistent Carla was she thought better of questioning her about it.

Now Carla was sitting in the back of the police car with Maria as they made their way back to the flat. She sighed quietly and this seemed to prompt Maria to speak to her.

"You've done the right thing in telling them, Carla..."  
>"They don't believe me."<br>Maria frowned, "what do you mean?"  
>"That copper in there, when I was telling her what happened she didn't believe me."<br>"You don't know that Carla."  
>"I do. You weren't there."<p>

Maria sighed and decided against answering her; she knew that to possibly cause an argument over something that might or might not be true was pointless. They stayed in silence as a few more moments passed and Maria assumed it was how they were going to spend the rest of the car journey, until Carla spoke that was.

"What did Peter say to you?"  
>"He was just asking after you and trying to find out what had happened."<br>"Have you told him?"  
>Maria hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer her. "Sort of."<br>Carla frowned at her answer "you either did or you didn't?"  
>"He knows, yeah."<br>"So you told him?" Carla sighed, and it was seconds before she spoke again and snapped a little more than she had intended. "It wasn't for you to tell."  
>"He overheard one if the police talking on the phone and he put two and two together Carla, I wasn't itching to tell him when he asked, believe me."<br>Carla sighed and lowered her voice a little as she spoke once more. "Listen Maria I'm sorry... I didn't mean to snap I-" she sighed and Maria answered so that she didn't have to worry about finishing the sentence. "I know, don't worry about it Carla and I'm sure Peter won't say anything you know." she offered a small smile.  
>"Let's hope so..."<p>

-

After getting back to the flat Maria had thanked Kirk for staying and making sure the boys weren't on their own. He had offered to go and stay at a friend's to which she agreed might be a good idea. As she made her way into the kitchen to make a drink for both herself and Carla, Carla made her way into the spare bedroom to check on Harvey. She moved over to kneel down at the side of the bed, running her hand over his hair gently and as she did he turned over, whispering sleepily. "mama?"  
>"Yeah it's me baby..."<br>"Breakfast now?"  
>"Not yet, in a little while. Go back to sleep..."<br>"You stay?"  
>"Of course." she nodded, and sat down at the side of his bed, not moving until she knew that he was settled once again.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the comments, hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and it shouldn't be too long before you find out who Harvey's real dad is. :')**

Part Seven.

Carla stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door so it was almost shut, she knew what Harvey was like about the dark with the phase he was going through and so knew the light from the living room in the gap would help prevent him from panicking if he woke again. At home she had a little nightlight that she would leave on by his bed so there was a dim glow and he wasn't left in complete darkness. Her whole life had been turned upside down in a matter of hours and now that meant her son's had too, she didn't want him to grow up like she had with a wreck for a mother frightened of what drama each day would bring, being shoved from pillar to post. It was in that moment that she decided she needed to get their things from the house and find somewhere else they could stay.

As she walked out Maria greeted her with a cup of coffee before moving sit down of the sofa, to which Carla accepted and sat down beside her. "Thanks... I would have preferred something stronger though."  
>"How would that help? You would just have a hangover in the morning to add to everything else. One glass would turn into a bottle and then that would probably turn into even more."<br>Carla sighed "yeah you're right, it doesn't stop me wanting it though." she admitted before having a sip of the warm drink in her hands. She curled her feet under her as Maria spoke again. "How's Harvey?"  
>"He woke up when I went in he thought it was breakfast time but he soon went back over."<br>Maria gave a small smile and nodded, she hoped the conversation was keeping Carla's mind off what had happened even just a little bit though she knew it was unlikely. "You can stay here as long as you want you know..."  
>"Thanks, and thank you for tonight but I think I'll have to get somewhere more permanent as soon as I can."<br>Maria knew Harvey was the reason Carla was insistent on getting somewhere else and although she knew it would have been hard with the pair of them and two toddlers as well as Kirk, she would have made it work. But, she knew that moment wasn't the best time to talk about it. "Well the offer's there if you want it. Now, just concentrate on finishing that and then getting to bed to get some rest."  
>Carla nodded once more and had some more of the drink, she was almost sure that rest would be something she wouldn't be getting for a long time but she decided against voicing her latest thought.<p>

There were a few moments where the two women just sat in silence, both thinking about the night's events and wondering what would happen from then on. When Maria spoke it caused Carla to jump, having not expected her to and Maria couldn't help but feel guilty. "Carla, can I ask you something?"  
>Carla frowned but nodded and Maria continued her tone a little hesitant which immediately told Carla she didn't know how she would react to what she'd said. "You know earlier on... When we were leaving for the police station and..." Maria noticed Carla's body language become a little more tense and she decided to just get to the point knowing it was far too soon to mention what had happened earlier that night. "You said that Harvey wasn't Frank's..."<br>Carla turned and it was then Maria wished she hadn't said anything. "Why would you ask that now? Is it any of your business whether he is or he isn't? He was trying to back me into a corner and make me do something I didn't want to _again_ and I said something that I knew would hurt him, and not nearly as much as he deserves."  
>"Carla I'm really sorry I never should have mentioned it..."<br>"No you're right, you shouldn't."

Before Maria could say anything else there was a knock at the door which interrupted their conversation and caused Carla to jump out of her skin again. Maria made her way over to answer the door and Carla turned around from where she was sitting, calling out to her. "Who is it?" The moment of Deja vu she had causing the sickness feeling she had to come back with a vengeance though she kept it under control, just. Maria walked back into the room before she answered her. "It's the police..."  
>Carla frowned and shook her head a little. "We've not long left there, what do they want?"<br>The police woman who was dealing with Carla's case answered before Maria got the chance to. "I've just come to speak to you Mrs Foster."  
>"Connor." Carla corrected her sharply.<br>"Sorry Mrs Connor, we've just come to let you know that Mr Foster has been let out on bail."  
>Carla was still trying to process what she was being told when Maria spoke. A man that had just raped her had been let out on bail and they wonder why people were losing faith in the justice system. "He's been let out, are you joking? Detective, he's just raped her and you've let him go like nothing's happened."<br>The police officer continued. "He's got strict bail conditions that state he's not allowed to go near your factory or your house. He's staying well away from this place."  
>This time Carla spoke in response to what she had said. "What? You really think he's going to stick to those rules do you?"<br>"If he doesn't he'll be back inside."  
>"That's where he should be now."<br>This time the police officer changed the subject, she knew there was nothing she could say to make her feel better. "An officer should be round with your keys tomorrow when we've finished going over your flat. I'll let myself out..."

Carla couldn't believe what she had heard and as Maria followed the police woman out to make sure the door was locked Carla was unable to stop a stray tear from falling down her cheek. She raised her hand a furiously wiped it away, she wondered how those people could sleep at night, they had just let him back onto the Street and aside from not being allowed to go to a couple of places he could live his normal life and get on with things, her life was changed forever and they thought that was fair? Carla couldn't help but feel that she should have just had a drink, got a bath and done a runner with Harvey rather than go to the police, she didn't feel as though they had done anything to make the situation better and Carla had been through hell and back that night. When the officer had first spoken to her she'd said she was trained to deal with cases such as her's, she couldn't help but feel as though they needed more training. A lot more.


End file.
